Spark-plug.



T. WINESTOUK.

SPARK PLUG.

APPLIGATION FILED APB. 30,1909.

Patented Apr. 26,1909.

CTT

,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

THEODOR WINESTOCK, OF STUTTGART, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO OTTO CHARLESWINESTOCK, OF PERKINSVILLE, VERMONT.

i SPARK-PLUG.

A Specification of Letters latc-mt.v

Patented April 20, 1909.

To all r11/tom {tf/mty concern:

Beit known that l, Trinonon l'ViNns'i-ooii, a subject of the Emperor ofGermany, residing at Stuttgart, Vi'u'temberg, Empire of Germany, haveinvented a new* and useful Spark-Plug, of which tl le following is aspecification.

lhis invention has reference to improvements in spark plugs forexplosive engines, and its object is to provide a means whereby a s rarkplug may be inserted or removed at wil from the explosion or ignitionchamber of the' engine without the use of any tools.

, By the present invention the spark plug is made in two parts, one partbeing 1practically constantly fixed in the walls of tue ignitionchamber, and the other part carrying both spark 'terminals the fixedpart, while provision is made whereby the two parts may be lockedtogether re movably, but so as to produce a gas-tight joint at the pointof union. The locking means employed is so constructed that when theremovable portion 'of the spark plug is seated in thel fixed portionthereof there is little or no tendency toward the accidental unseatingor loosening of the removable seetion of the plug in its seat by anyforces except those purposely applied. Furthermmc, by providing theremovable member with both spark terminals it is possible to thoroughlyins ect and cleanse or repair the vital portions o the spark plugwithout the necessity of unscrewing the member applied to the threadedpassage leading to the interior of the ignition chamber, as is necessarywith the ordinary spark plugs, or those in which one terminal only isremovable.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detail deA scription taken in connection with the accompanyingdran-*ings forming a paft of ,this specification, in which drawings--vFigure 1 is a longitudinal section of the spark plug, and Fig. 2 is anelevation of the same.

Referring to the 'dra-wings, there is shown a member 1 in thegeneralform of a `cylindrical shell havine one end shaped into a neck 2'externally screw-threaded to enter the screw-threaded lpassage usuallyprovided in the walls of the ignition chamber of an explosive engine forthe introduction of a spark plug. The member 1 is-'provided with apolygonal portion for the rception of a screwing it therefrom.

and readily removable from` wrench or other means of screwing the member1 into the ignition chamber or of un- I 'lhat end of the member 1 remotefrom the neck 2 is formed with entering slots 3 curved until the innerends of these slots are substantially 'concentric to the longitudinalaxis of the body 1. The interior of the member 1 is formed with acylindrical portion 4 at the slotted end, and a smaller cylindricalortion 5 coincident with the threaded nec and between these two portionsthere is a conical section 6 of decreasingdiameter toward the neck 2.Both ends of the cylinder are open.

The movable member comprises a body portion 7 shown as slightly longerthan the fixed member 1 and conforming in exterior contour to the shapeof the member 1. At diametrically opposite points the body 7 of theymovable member has screwed into it radially-projecting pins 8, each ofwhich is protected by an insulating cap 9 constituting a handle by meansof which the movable member may be mani iulated. The pins 8 are of suchdiameter am the insulating caps or handles 9 are so spaced from the body7 that the pins 8 may be caused to enter the open ends of 1the slots 3,the said slots boing diametricall f disposed in the cylindrical or fixedmem er 1 and then by turning the body portion 7 on its longitudinalaxis, the said body portion will be forced into the member 1 until theintermediate conical portion 10 of the body 7 is'in intimate cont-actwith the conical seat 6, the parts being locked together by theconcentric portions of the slots 3.

Extending longitudinally through the body 7 of the movable or removablemember is a centralboi'e 1.1, and this bore. is 'counterbored, asindicated at 12, for a )ortion of its length from the smaller end of t ebody portion. The central borel 11 hasy in it an insulating sleeve 13extending beyond the wide end of the bod).T portion 7, and also at theother end entering the counterbore 12. Within the said counterbore isvanother insulating member lil, and beyond the wide end of the bodyportion 7 is insulation 15. The insulating member 14 is ol' suliieientlength to extend beyond the small end of the body portion 7. p

Extending centrally through the insulating members 11, le and 15, is ametallic rod 16 terminating at one end in ahead 17 and at the other endin a screw-threaded portion 1S.

Between the head 17 and the insulating t sary to remove the plug theoperator has but member 14 there is confined a disk 19 having on onesidean annular crown of teeth 2'0'directed toward the end face 21 of thesmall end of the vbody ortion 7. The screwthreaded end 18 of t e rod 16receives a number of nuts 22 and also a thumb nut 23 such as is commonlyemployed upon binding posts.

The insulating members 11, 14 and 15 may be formed of any suitableinsulating material caV able of standing up under com aratively 'ghelectric pressures, While the msulating sleeve 14 should alsobe ofrefractory material. An excellent insulating material, which is alsohighl refractoi is mica and the insulating mem vers 14 an 15 can',therefore, be made u ofsuperposed washers of mica While the s eeve 11may be madonp of mica composition or mica disks. When the insulatingmembers are made of suitable insulating material other than mica theymay be suitably molded into shape, and the sleeve' 11 may be inset intoboth the members 14 and 15 to prevent danger of leakage of current atthe' joints. In the case of mica the insulating material may be suitablybuiltup of disks of proper shape.

One circuit terminal is connected to the rod or stem 16 by clamping theend of the conductor between the thumb nut 23 and the outer one of thenuts 22, thesaid nuts 22 serving as both clamping and lock nuts. Theother circuit terminal may be connected to the enginev body at any aropriate point after `the usual practice. @he s ark then passes betweenthe teeth 2() andt e annular end 21 of the body 7. By this means thereis little or no danger of choking or 'short circuitingv at the sparkterminals since there are a large number of pointsl for the sparks topass, and should one become burned off others remain and so the life ofthe terminals is much prolonged. It is found that the disk 19 will'successfully operate when made of 'c German silver.

@seated in the fixed member 1. tion ofthe slots 3, which are suitablyshaped for this purpose, Will so firmlys'eat the 'movable member in thefixed member that the joint is rendered gas tight, even under the highpressures generated in the explosion chamber'when the charge is fired.This is easily accomplished by properly grinding the l meeting surfacesofthe cones of the movable and fixed members. When it becomesneces- Thecam acto app y a twisting force to the handles 9 in a direction at rightangles to the longit'udmfl axis of the plug and the movable member isimmediately forced out of its seat and may then be lifted from the openends of the slots 3, no tools of any kind being necessary fOl thispurpose. that the movable member of the plug carries both sparkterminals and, therefore, inspec-v tion or repair of the vital portionsof the spark plug is possible without the necessity of removing anyparts by means of tools. Furthermore, the fixed member may be propcrlpacked against leakage when irst putin place and need not, therefore, bedisturbed.

What is claimed is It is to be further observed 1. A spark plugcomprising a fixed ,lllelll-4 ber .provided with open ended cam slotsterminating at their inner ends in plane porl`- tions concentric withthe longitudinal axis of the said fixed member and( extending entirelythrough the Walls of the fixed member throughoutV their length, and aremovable member carrying both terminals of the spark circuit andprovided with lmeans for engaging the Walls of the cam slots to bethereby 'seated and locked in the fixed member when the engaging meansare in the plane portions ofthe said cam slots, the said engaging meanson the removable member extending entirely through the said cam slotsand there provided with manipulating handles.

2. A spark plug comprising a fixed 111cm.E ber composed of a cylindricalbody having a threaded neck at one end, and open-ended cam slots at theother end, said cam slots en tering said 'end of the cylindrical body,and then curving and ending in plane portions concentric with thelongitudinal axis of the vcylindrical body, the latter being alsoprovided with an. interior conical seat, and aremovable member having aconical portion adapted to said seat and carrying both spark terminals,said removable member also be-v ing provided withA handles havingyportions adapted to enter the cam slots, and to engage the Walls of thelatter toseat the'removab o member in the fixed member and to lock thetwo together when the handles are in the plane portions of the said camslots.

3. A. spark plug comprising a cylindrical member aving a threaded neckat one end and an interior conical seat, and at the other end havingopen-ended camslots entering the said end of the cylindrical member andthen curving and ending 'in plane portions concentric with thelongitudinal axisof said cylindrical member, a removable member composedof a body portion having a conical section adapted to the conical seatin the fixed member and also provided With a longitudinal centralpassage, radial pins carried by the body of the removable member andadapted to enter the slots of the fixed memllO ber and locking in theplane portions'of the In testimony that vI claim vtbe foregoing s saidslots, e conducting stem central to the my own, I have hereto affixed myslgnature removable member and insulated therefrom, in the presence oftwo witnesses.

A means for locking saidstem to the removable i THEODOR VVINESTOCK. 5member, and a circuit terminal carried by Witnesses:

the stem in operative relation to the inner L KARL WE'rNsTooK,

end of the v body of the removable member. e EUGEN SfrooKER. v

